What started out looking like a high-scoring game turned into a defensive slugfest on Friday night inside a steamy Carrier Dome.

Syracuse University put up 14 points in the game’s first 14 minutes, but was shut out the rest of the way by a stout Pittsburgh Panthers’ defense.

Fortunately, the Orange defense showed up, too. SU’s defense held Pitt to 13 points and scored one of the two Orange touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the SU offense got its act together late in the game for a five-minute, game-sealing possession to preserve a 14-13 victory in its Big East Conference opener in front of a crowd announced at 40,394.

“I’m happy that we won,” SU head coach Doug Marrone said of his team’s first victory over an FBS team since a 49-23 win over West Virginia last Oct. 21.

“I wish everyone could have been on that field to get a better feel for how hard those kids were getting after it,” Marrone said of the hard-hitting battle that saw only three points scored in the second half.

The game wasn’t expected to be a defensive grind as Pitt came in averaging 29.2 points and SU’s offense averaged 27.

“I don’t know who expected it to be a high-scoring game. I know this: I knew it was going to be a hard game,” Marrone said of the Orange, which improved to 2-3, 1-0 in the Big East. It was the first time SU had beaten Pitt since an overtime win in 2004.

SU was held to 305 yards total offense, 182 below its average. Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib was limited to a pedestrian 185 yards passing, completing 19-of-30 attempts with one interception and no TDs.

Pitt, which fell to 2-3 (0-2 Big East) ran up 346 yards total offense, all but 27 through the air. Senior tailback Ray Graham gained 57, but five sacks of quarterback Tino Sunseri cost the Panthers 33 yards.

It’s a good thing the defense stopped the run because junior wide receiver Devin Street had a career night against the Orange secondary, catching 10 passes for 130 yards.

While the Orange defense kept the Pitt offense in check, the SU offense had two key drives — one to open the game, and one to end it — that earned the victory.

SU marched 70 yards on eight plays in its first possession, something it hadn’t done all season, to score the game’s opening TD.

A new goal-line offense, featuring reserve linebacker Lewellyn Coker at fullback blocking for sophomore tailback Adonis Ameen-Moore, allowed SU to punch the ball in from a yard out. The pair of big bodies followed the left side of SU’s offensive line — guard Zack Chibane and tackle Justin Pugh.

Ameen-Moore, who scored on his first carry of the season, said the offense was put together after a 17-10 loss at Minnesota on Sept. 22, a game in which the Orange failed to score after having first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.

“Especially for a defensive dude to realize what the (offense) was doing and come in there and make holes open up. I was happy to run behind him,” said Ameen-Moore, who had several key carries in SU’s late offensive possession that put the game away.

That drive began with 4:52 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Orange clinging to a one-point lead.

SU took over at its 20-yard line after a Pitt punt into the end zone. The Panthers had all three timeouts left, and the Orange had seen all four of its previous second-half possessions end with punts.

The Orange ran the ball for 10 of the 11 plays that chewed up the remaining time.

“It was kind of gut-check time,” said Pugh, an all-conference junior who was playing his first game for the Orange this season. “It was a gritty win.”

That final drive was set up by a bend-but-don’t-break defense that made key stops all night.

None was bigger than a fourth-quarter series, Pitt’s final possession, in which the Panthers drove from their own 30 to a first down on the SU 17-yard line.

On the first play, defensive end Brandon Sharpe was credited with a sack of Sunseri, who was called for intentional grounding, and the Panthers were back on the SU 32. On the next play, cornerback Brandon Reddish blitzed off of the left corner and sacked Sunseri back to the SU 41. After an incompletion on third down, Pitt punted.

The SU defense, which has struggled to stop the run at various times this season, came up big throughout the game.

“We knew this game was on the defense,” said sophomore linebacker Dyshawn Davis, who combined with free safety Jeremi Wilkes for the other SU score.

Late in the first quarter, Pitt had the ball at midfield. On second-and-eight, Sunseri hit tight end Drew Carswell on a short crossing pattern, but Wilkes came up with a big hit and knocked the ball loose at the SU 48. Davis picked up the ball and rambled 52 yards for the TD.

Davis said the SU defense was aware that Pitt liked that play.

“Jeremi did a great job of stripping him,” Davis said. “I saw that ball and my eyes got real big.”

It was only the fifth turnover of the season forced by SU’s defense and the first that the Orange converted into a score.

“It finally felt like we were clicking,” said senior defensive tackle Deon Goggins.

Marrone said the Orange still has a long way to go this season and there’s no bye week to get ready to face a Rutgers team on the road in a week. But the coach liked the toughness his team displayed on both sides of the ball.

“There was some physicality out there,” he said. “You look at what we did against this Pitt team in the run game. It’s pretty good.”